BAJA Sports: Super Bowl XLVI Predictions

The New England Patriots and New York Giants will meet in Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI. Here are the predictions from BAJA Sports bloggers:

Brian Weiss: If this game is anything like Super Bowl XLII, then the fans are in for a great show. David Tyree’s “supernatural” catch led the Giants to an upset victory of the previously undefeated Patriots. It has been four years since that game, and current Patriot players, that were victims of “The Catch,” say that revenge isn’t on their mind. I find that hard to believe since it ruined arguably the best season of all time.

Given that, the teams that will take the field in Indianapolis have almost been completely remodeled, except for the quarterbacks. Tom Brady and Eli Manning once again look to lead their respected teams back to glory.

The quarterbacks will play a big role in this game but there is another key to success for each team.

For the Patriots it’s the health of Tight End Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski has been nursing a high ankle sprain and hasn’t practiced since the win over Baltimore. I fully expect to see Gronkowski on the field come game-day but he definitely won’t be 100 percent. The Patriots offense doesn’t revolve around Gronkowski, but without him they are a much easier team to defend.

The Giants key will be their front four. Getting pressure on Brady will be a must if the Giants expect to come out victorious. They can’t let a future hall-of-fame quarterback sit back in the pocket and pick apart their defense, because he will do just that if given time. Even if they aren’t recording sacks, the front four need to make Brady think the pocket is collapsing, thus forcing him to rush throws.

This game won’t be decided until the final two minutes so get ready to start pulling your hair out. These two teams are evenly matched and I just don’t see either team pulling away.

Despite my severe lack of love for the Patriots, I find it hard to believe that Tom Brady is going to let anyone get the best of him twice. Patriots win in the house that Manning built, making it even that much sweeter for them.

Patriots 28 Giants 24

Zach Hughes: Super Bowl 46 is not a rematch of Super Bowl 42. These are two completely different teams. In fact, the only two major similarities are the coaches and the quarterbacks.

Differences to note:
1. The Patriots defense is worse than they were in 2007.
2. The Giants running attack is worse. If you recall in my last article, Ahmad Bradshaw’s “fumble” should have lost the game for the Giants against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship.
3. The Giants pass rush is very good. Especially in passing situations, they like to put in their NASCAR package, which is essentially four defensive ends. They are very good at getting to the quarterback with four, allowing seven to be in coverage.
4. I’m not completely sold on the fact that some people are calling the Giants offense explosive. I see the Patriots taking Hakeem Nicks out of the game and making Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham make plays. I don’t think they are going to be able to make those plays on the big stage. Watch for at least two crucial drops from Cruz.

With all of that being said, I think this game comes down to match-ups. If you look back to the Patriots’ wins against the Broncos and Ravens, they exploited the match-ups they wanted to. I think Trent Dilfer proved this after the AFC championship game. He showed in a highlight (no longer available on ESPNs website) the Patriots are the best at exploiting favorable matchups. I think the fact that these teams played earlier this season favors Bill Belichick and he will make the appropriate changes. The Patriots win this one in Indianapolis. Sorry Colts fans.

Patriots 28 Giants 17

Thomas Hitch:This Super Bowl will come down to whose defense will step up and make the play at the end of the game. Will the New York Giants allow Tom Brady to walk all over them, or will they have two interceptions like they did in Week 9?

The first week of November’s matchup between these two teams was close, and the Giants were running on an easy schedule prior to playing the Patriots. They headed into the heart of their schedule after defeating the Patriots, where they would lose four straight games to San Francisco, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Green Bay.

Since then, the Giants have been the hottest team in the NFL. Riding their way from the Wild Card game against Atlanta to the Super Bowl where they will rematch from Super Bowl XLII.

Tom Brady doesn’t need any more fuel to the fire as he does after losing in 2007, but it won’t make much of a difference in the end. The Giants have proved why organizations should not bench players, and how important momentum is leading into the playoffs.

The Super Bowl in Indianapolis is already being marked as one to remember and it is only Wednesday. Giants will win in the end.

Patriots 24 Giants 28

But the bigger question is: Will Peyton Manning stay in Indianapolis?

Sean Eberly: You can make a valid argument neither of the teams should even be there (*cough* *cough* Billy Cundiff & Kyle Williams). But for the teams that luckily survived, here’s my take…

The deciding factors lie in the hands of the Patriots secondary and the Giants D-line. There were moments in the AFC Championship game where Joe Flacco carved up the Pats secondary like a Thanksgiving turkey, only to be saved by Vince Wilfork’s big hole-clogging heroics. Any big contributions from them would be a bonus against red-hot Eli.

The other key component deciding the outcome will come with the Giants D-line, which traditionally can change a game. Statistics show that if you can hit Brady, you can win the game, which the Giants have been doing this entire playoff quest. I believe the New York Giants will be your Super Bowl XLVI Champions, in the epic Super Bowl XLII rematch. The Giants defense holds Tom Brady and gives Eli enough chances to comfortably score at least 20 points.

It seems lightning has struck again as the AFC representative, the New England Patriots are matched up against the unlikely NFC representative, the New York Giants.

Both teams had extremely difficult roads to get to where they are now but now they’re here and many storylines can be made out of this game.

Not following the ESPN cliche, i’m not going to get to into that. In my unbiased and honest opinion i’m going to have to go with the New England Patriots winning this out in an extremely close game. This game will come down to the final possession, like most, and I see the Patriots scoring on that final drive. Tom Brady has been too good this season and I feel he will be able to carve up that Giants secondary. The real storyline in the game however is can Eli take advantage of the Patriots sub-par defensive. I say yes. So in essence, the game will turn into a shootout.

I see this game possibly going into overtime as well. No superbowl has ever went into overtime but eventually that streak will have to end. Why not now?

Both teams deserve to be where they are but in then end the Patriots got paired up with the opponent they wanted. Their nemesis from 2008, the Big blue Giants.

I see the Patriots winning 31 – 28 in overtime. Tom Brady joins the mount rushmoore of quarterbacks which includes Bradshaw and Montana, while talks of Eli being better than Peyton begin to simmer down.